Methods, architectures and security mechanisms for a third-party application to access content in a cloud-based platform

ABSTRACT

Techniques are disclosed for methods, architectures and security mechanisms for a third-party application to access content in a cloud-based platform. In one embodiment, a method includes, providing a third-party application with direct access to content in a cloud-based environment. The third-party application is hosted by an entity different from that of the cloud-based environment. In some embodiments, the direct access to the content in the cloud-based environment is provided to the third-party application and accomplished without a need to access an application that is native to the cloud-based environment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND EFFECTIVE FILING DATEENTITLEMENT

This application is entitled to the benefit of and/or the right ofpriority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/650,840, entitled“PLATFORM AND APPLICATION AGNOSTIC METHOD FOR SEAMLESS FILE ACCESS IN AMOBILE ENVIRONMENT” (Attorney Docket No. 61599-8031.US01), filed May 23,2012; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/653,876, entitled “PLATFORMAND APPLICATION AGNOSTIC METHOD FOR SEAMLESS FILE ACCESS IN A MOBILEENVIRONMENT” (Attorney Docket No. 61599-8031.US02), filed May 31, 2012,all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.This application is therefore entitled to an effective filing date ofMay 23, 2012.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/886,147, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR A THIRD-PARTY APPLICATION TOACCESS CONTENT WITHIN A CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM” (Attorney Docket No.61599-8031.US03), filed May 2, 2013, which is entitled to the benefit ofand/or the right of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.61/641,824, entitled “PLATFORM AND APPLICATION AGNOSTIC METHOD FORSEAMLESS FILE ACCESS IN A MOBILE ENVIRONMENT” (Attorney Docket No.61599-8031.US00), filed May 2, 2012, all of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties.

This application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.______, entitled “METADATA ENABLED THIRD-PARTY APPLICATION ACCESS OFCONTENT AT A CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM VIA A NATIVE CLIENT TO THE CLOUD-BASEDPLATFORM” (Attorney Docket No. 61599-8031.U505), filed ______, and U.S.patent application Ser. No. ______, entitled “IDENTIFICATIONVERIFICATION MECHANISMS FOR A THIRD-PARTY APPLICATION TO ACCESS CONTENTIN A CLOUD-BASED PLATFORM” (Attorney Docket No. 61599-8031.US06), filed______, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent andTrademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves allcopyright rights whatsoever. The following notice applies to thesoftware and data as described below and in the drawings that form apart of this document: Copyright 2013, Box, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

BACKGROUND

With the advancements in digital technologies, data proliferation andthe ever increasing mobility of user platforms which enable andencourage development of third-party applications have become ubiquitousin sectors of modern society, and as a result, data becomes sharedacross multiple sources as is use of third-party applications. This hasbecome relevant with the increase of electronic and digital contentbeing used in enterprise or social settings or shared environments ofdigital content compared to stand-alone personal computers and mobiledevices.

However, to date, content sharing across multiple platforms usingvarious application lacks the capabilities that provide the third-partyapplications with access to content or files stored in a workspace thatis shared among multiple users in an intuitive and integrated manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present embodiments are illustrated by way of example and are notintended to be limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 depicts an example diagram of a system having a host server of acloud service, collaboration and/or cloud storage accounts withcapabilities that enable a third-party application to access contentwithin a cloud-based platform in an integrated manner;

FIG. 2 depicts an example diagram of a web-based or online collaborationplatform deployed in an enterprise or other organizational setting fororganizing work items and workspaces;

FIG. 3 depicts an example diagram of a workspace in an online orweb-based collaboration environment accessible by multiple collaboratorsthrough various devices;

FIG. 4 depicts an example screenshot illustrating a user interface whichenables a third-party application to access content within a cloud-basedplatform in an integrated manner;

FIG. 5 depicts an example screenshot illustrating another user interfacewhich enables a third-party application to access content within acloud-based platform;

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart illustrating an example process for athird-party application to access content within a cloud-based platformin an integrated manner;

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart illustrating another example process for athird-party application to access content within a cloud-based platformin an integrated manner;

FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart illustrating further details which can beadopted by the processes of FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 in accordance with someembodiments;

FIGS. 9A and 9B depict two flowcharts respectively illustrating twoexample processes which a mobile application of the cloud-basedenvironment can perform so as to provide the file to the third-partyapplication;

FIG. 10 depicts an example screenshot illustrating an user interface ofthe cloud-based platform;

FIG. 11 depicts an example screenshot illustrating a third-partyapplication integrated with an interface that enables access to contentwithin a cloud-based platform;

FIG. 12 depicts an example screenshot illustrating a list of approvedthird-party applications which can be authored by partnering entities;

FIG. 13 depicts a flowchart illustrating an example process which can beperformed by a third-party application to gain access to content in acloud-based environment;

FIG. 14 depicts a flowchart illustrating an example process which can beperformed by a host server for providing the third-party application ofFIG. 13 with access to content in a cloud-based environment;

FIG. 15 depicts a flowchart illustrating an example process which can beperformed by a third-party application, through a third-partyapplication server, to gain access to content in a cloud-basedenvironment;

FIG. 16 depicts a flowchart illustrating an example process which can beperformed by the third-party application server of FIG. 15 for providingthe third-party application with access to content in a cloud-basedenvironment; and

FIG. 17 depicts a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexample form of a computer system within which a set of instructions,for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, can be executed.

The same reference numbers and any acronyms identify elements or actswith the same or similar structure or functionality throughout thedrawings and specification for ease of understanding and convenience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques are disclosed for a third-party application to access contentstored within a cloud-based platform or environment. In one embodiment,a method comprises, responsive to a request to access or edit a filereceived in the cloud-based environment, grant access or edit of thefile using the third-party application. The third-party applicationincludes a user interface which is customized to enable storage of theaccessed or edited file to the cloud-based environment. In someembodiments, the third-party application is restricted to store theaccessed file back to the cloud-based environment. Among otheradvantages, embodiments disclosed herein provide both accessibility ofcontent within a cloud-based workspace to third-party applications andcontrollability over the manner of the third-party applications'accesses, thereby allowing the users to enjoy the benefit of freedom inchoosing their own preferred programs from a wide-variety of third-partyapplications while maintaining or enhancing the security of the contentstored within the cloud-based workspace.

The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not tobe construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in certaininstances, well-known or conventional details are not described in orderto avoid obscuring the description. References to one or an embodimentin the present disclosure can be, but not necessarily are, references tothe same embodiment; and, such references mean at least one of theembodiments.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic describedin connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodimentof the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodimentsmutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features aredescribed which can be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others.Similarly, various requirements are described which can be requirementsfor some embodiments but not other embodiments.

The terms used in this specification generally have their ordinarymeanings in the art, within the context of the disclosure, and in thespecific context where each term is used. Certain terms that are used todescribe the disclosure are discussed below, or elsewhere in thespecification, to provide additional guidance to the practitionerregarding the description of the disclosure. For convenience, certainterms can be highlighted, for example using italics and/or quotationmarks. The use of highlighting has no influence on the scope and meaningof a term; the scope and meaning of a term is the same, in the samecontext, whether or not it is highlighted. It will be appreciated thatsame thing can be said in more than one way.

Consequently, alternative language and synonyms can be used for any oneor more of the terms discussed herein, nor is any special significanceto be placed upon whether or not a term is elaborated or discussedherein. Synonyms for certain terms are provided. A recital of one ormore synonyms does not exclude the use of other synonyms. The use ofexamples anywhere in this specification including examples of any termsdiscussed herein is illustrative only, and is not intended to furtherlimit the scope and meaning of the disclosure or of any exemplifiedterm. Likewise, the disclosure is not limited to various embodimentsgiven in this specification.

Without intent to limit the scope of the disclosure, examples ofinstruments, apparatus, methods and their related results according tothe embodiments of the present disclosure are given below. Note thattitles or subtitles can be used in the examples for convenience of areader, which in no way should limit the scope of the disclosure. Unlessotherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein havethe same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in theart to which this disclosure pertains. In the case of conflict, thepresent document, including definitions will control.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example diagram of a system 100 having a hostserver 110 of a cloud-based service/platform, collaboration workspaceand/or cloud storage service with capabilities that enable that enable athird-party application to access content within a cloud-based platformin an integrated manner.

The client devices 102 can be any system and/or device, and/or anycombination of devices/systems that is able to establish a communicationor a connection, including wired, wireless, cellular connections withanother device, a server and/or other systems such as host server 110and/or a third-party application 120. Client devices 102 typicallyinclude a display and/or other output functionalities to presentinformation and data exchanged between among the devices 102, thethird-party application 120, and/or the host server 110.

For example, the client devices 102 can include mobile, hand held orportable devices or non-portable devices and can be any of, but notlimited to, a server desktop, a desktop computer, a computer cluster, orportable devices including, a notebook, a laptop computer, a handheldcomputer, a palmtop computer, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a PDA, asmart phone (e.g., a BlackBerry device such as BlackBerry Z10/Q10, aniPhone, Nexus 4, etc.), a Treo, a handheld tablet (e.g. an iPad, iPadMini, a Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Xoom Tablet, Microsoft Surface,Blackberry PlayBook, Nexus 7, 10 etc.), a phablet (e.g., HTC Droid DNA,etc.), a tablet PC, a thin-client, a hand held console, a hand heldgaming device or console (e.g., XBOX live, Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStationPortable, etc.), mobile-enabled powered watch (e.g., iOS, Android orother platform based), Google Glass, a Chromebook and/or any otherportable, mobile, hand held devices, etc. running on any platform or anyoperating system (e.g., Mac-based OS (OS X, iOS, etc.), Windows-based OS(Windows Mobile, Windows 7, Windows 8, etc.), Android, Blackberry OS,Embedded Linux platforms, Palm OS, Symbian platform, Google Chrome OS,and the like. In one embodiment, the client devices 102, host server110, and/or the third-party application 120 (e.g., a server hostingapplication 120) are coupled via a network 106. In some embodiments, thedevices 102 and host server 100 and/or third-party application 120 maybe directly connected to one another.

The input mechanism on client devices 102 can include touch screenkeypad (including single touch, multi-touch, gesture sensing in 2D or3D, etc.), a physical keypad, a mouse, a pointer, a track pad, motiondetector (e.g., including 1-axis, 2-axis, 3-axis accelerometer, etc.), alight sensor, capacitance sensor, resistance sensor, temperature sensor,proximity sensor, a piezoelectric device, device orientation detector(e.g., electronic compass, tilt sensor, rotation sensor, gyroscope,accelerometer), or a combination of the above.

Signals received or detected indicating user activity at client devices102 through one or more of the above input mechanism, or others, can beused by various users or collaborators (e.g., collaborators 108) foraccessing, through network 106, a web-based collaboration environment oronline collaboration platform (e.g., hosted by the host server 110). Thecollaboration environment or platform can have one or more collectivesettings 105 for an enterprise or an organization that the users belong,and can provide an user interface 104 for the users to access suchplatform under the settings 105.

The collaboration platform or environment hosts workspaces with workitems that one or more users can access (e.g., view, edit, update,revise, comment, download, preview, tag, or otherwise manipulate, etc.).A work item can generally include any type of digital or electroniccontent that can be viewed or accessed via an electronic device (e.g.,device 102). The digital content can include .pdf files, .doc, slides(e.g., Powerpoint slides), images, audio files, multimedia content, webpages, blogs, etc. A workspace can generally refer to any grouping of aset of digital content in the collaboration platform. The grouping canbe created, identified, or specified by a user or through other means.This user may be a creator user or administrative user, for example.

In general, a workspace can be associated with a set of users orcollaborators (e.g., collaborators 108) which have access to the contentincluded therein. The levels of access (e.g., based on permissions orrules) of each user or collaborator to access the content in a givenworkspace may be the same or may vary among the users. Each user mayhave their own set of access rights to every piece of content in theworkspace, or each user may be different access rights to differentpieces of content. Access rights may be specified by a user associatedwith a workspace and/or a user who created/uploaded a particular pieceof content to the workspace, or any other designated user orcollaborator.

In general, the collaboration platform allows multiple users orcollaborators to access or collaborate efforts on work items such eachuser can see, remotely, edits, revisions, comments, or annotations beingmade to specific work items through their own user devices. For example,a user can upload a document to a workspace for other users to access(e.g., for viewing, editing, commenting, signing-off, or otherwisemanipulating). The user can login to the online platform and upload thedocument (or any other type of work item) to an existing workspace or toa new workspace. The document can be shared with existing users orcollaborators in a workspace.

In general, network 106, over which the client devices 102 and the hostserver 110 communicate may be a cellular network, a telephonic network,an open network, such as the Internet, or a private network, such as anintranet and/or the extranet, or any combination or variation thereof.For example, the Internet can provide file transfer, remote log in,email, news, RSS, cloud-based services, instant messaging, visualvoicemail, push mail, VoIP, and other services through any known orconvenient protocol, such as, but is not limited to the TCP/IP protocol,Open System Interconnections (OSI), FTP, UPnP, iSCSI, NSF, ISDN, PDH,RS-232, SDH, SONET, etc.

The network 106 can be any collection of distinct networks operatingwholly or partially in conjunction to provide connectivity to the clientdevices 102 and the host server 110 and may appear as one or morenetworks to the serviced systems and devices. In one embodiment,communications to and from the client devices 102 can be achieved by, anopen network, such as the Internet, or a private network, such as anintranet and/or the extranet. In one embodiment, communications can beachieved by a secure communications protocol, such as secure socketslayer (SSL), or transport layer security (TLS).

In addition, communications can be achieved via one or more networks,such as, but are not limited to, one or more of WiMax, a Local AreaNetwork (LAN), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Personal areanetwork (PAN), a Campus area network (CAN), a Metropolitan area network(MAN), a Wide area network (WAN), a Wireless wide area network (WWAN),or any broadband network, and further enabled with technologies such as,by way of example, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Personal Communications Service (PCS), Bluetooth, WiFi, Fixed WirelessData, 2G, 2.5G, 3G (e.g., WCDMA/UMTS based 3G networks), 4G,IMT-Advanced, pre-4G, LTE Advanced, mobile WiMax, WiMax 2,WirelessMAN-Advanced networks, enhanced data rates for GSM evolution(EDGE), General packet radio service (GPRS), enhanced GPRS, iBurst,UMTS, HSPDA, HSUPA, HSPA, HSPA+, UMTS-TDD, 1xRTT, EV-DO, messagingprotocols such as, TCP/IP, SMS, MMS, extensible messaging and presenceprotocol (XMPP), real time messaging protocol (RTMP), instant messagingand presence protocol (IMPP), instant messaging, USSD, IRC, or any otherwireless data networks, broadband networks, or messaging protocols.

Third-party applications 120 can be located from one or more third-partyservice application providing servers, and/or they can be provided bythird-party software application vendors to run on the host server 110,either of which may be accessed over the network 106 (e.g., in forms ofweb-based applications). Third-party applications 120 can also beprovided to the user directly and can be accessed at/from/via,installed, executed and run on the user devices 102. These threedifferent configurations (or suitable combinations of which) areillustrated in FIG. 1 by way of example. In any of these configurations,the third-party applications 120 can communicate with the host server110 for accessing cloud-based collaboration platform, storage and/orservices in performing their functions.

The embodiments disclosed herein recognize that, with the growingprevalence of the communication networks (e.g., the Internet) and smartportable devices (e.g., smart phones), there are many third-partyapplications 120 that need access to a cloud-based collaborationservice/platform, and/or cloud-based file and content storage servicesin order to best facilitate an intuitive and straightforward userexperience,

For example, a user using a smart phone or a tablet computer may wish torun a third-party software application 120 (e.g., Google QuickOffice),to create or open a document, save the document back to a cloud-basedcollaboration and/or storage (e.g., cloud-based collaboration and/orstorage services provided by Box, Inc., repository 130) and share itwith a selected group of collaborators or in an enterprise includingcolleagues. One colleague as a reviewer may use another third-partysoftware application 120 (e.g., Nuance Paperport) to annotate it, andanother colleague may use yet another third-party software application120 (e.g., Adobe Echosign) to sign the document, all accessing the samedocument on the cloud-based collaboration, interaction and/or storageservices. For another example, a user of a third-party serviceapplication 120 (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook or other application) may wantto store his or her resume and/or other content on a user profile pageprovided by the third-party service application 120, which in turn woulddesirably store these files on a cloud-basedenvironment/platform/services (e.g., collaboration and/or storageservices) of the user.

However, whether it is for collaboration or for personal use or forboth, existing techniques lack a user friendly, integrated way for thethird-party applications and the users to enjoy a streamlinedcloud-based environment/platform/services (e.g., collaboration, editing,sharing, and/or storage) experience without multiple uploading,downloading steps across multiple applications or devices which mayfurther interrupt the user's work flow or potentially further risk abreach of security and/or privacy.

For example, some approaches lack the capability to provide theflexibility of using third-party applications to access content storedin the cloud-based workspace and the security assurances necessarytoward such access, for example, in an enterprise setting wheresensitive and/or confidential documents are often involved.

One way to provide access to content stored in a cloud-basedcollaborative environment is to allow the user and/or collaborators todownload a copy of the content of interest (e.g., a file) so as tocreate a local copy of the file (e.g., on one of the user devices 102).Then, the user can use a suitable third-party application (e.g., whichmay be installed on the user device 102 as an application, or may beprovided as a web browser plug-in that can access the application viathe browser) of his or her own preference to access, view, edit, orotherwise modify the file.

However, this approach relinquishes access control over the file bysimply allowing the file to be downloaded and copied without technicalrestrictions; it puts heavy reliance on the user and/or the third-partyapplication to store back the file to the cloud-based platform, tocontrol the access to the local copy of the file, and to delete anycopies created for/during the access.

To overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks, one way is to provide accessto a cloud-based collaborative environment is for a provider (e.g., whohosts the host server 110) of the cloud-based environment to alsoprovide integrated editing tools, typically in forms of web-basedapplications (e.g., accessible via a web browser). However, thisapproach provides security and access controllability at the expense offlexibility; indeed, the users are forced to accept and use whicheverapplications or tools developed and/or deployed by the cloud serviceprovider. Oftentimes, functionalities of these tools are simple and canbe limited as compared to other third-party applications that areprofessionally developed.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems andmethods that provide techniques for a third-party application to accesscontent stored within a cloud-based platform or environment in anintegrated, secure manner. In accordance with some embodiments, a system(e.g., host server 110, or user devices 102) implementing the techniquesdisclosed herein is provided that enables (e.g., through a softwareframework, an application programming interface, a software library,and/or an agent application) the third-party application 120 to connectto the host server 110 which hosts the cloud-based platform foraccessing content that is stored in the cloud (e.g., in cloud repository130).

In some embodiments, when a user desires to access content (e.g., afile) stored in the cloud-based platform using the third-partyapplication 120, the user can first select to access the file in thecloud-based platform. For example, the user can utilize a user interface104 (e.g., in forms of a mobile application installed on user devices102, or in forms of webpages accessible by a browser) of the cloud-basedenvironment to select the file of his or her interest. For purposes ofdiscussion, assume the user interface 104 is provided through a mobileapplication. Then, when the user selects the file in the user interface104 for accessing (e.g., for viewing, editing, signing, etc.), themobile application can prompt the user to choose which third-partyapplication 120 that he or she desires to use. Thereafter, the userdevices 102 launches the third-party application 120, which cancommunicate with the mobile application so that the third-partyapplication 120 can access the file through the mobile application. Someembodiments provide that the third-party application 120 is launched onthe user devices 102 using a controlled launching interface that isdifferent from an application launching interface provided by anoperating system of the user devices 102.

More specifically, according to some implementations, the mobileapplication can handling authentication, navigation and upload/downloadof the file(s) of the user's interest. From one practical standpoint,the mobile application reduces the necessary effort for a developer ofthe third-party application 120 to build out the functionality and userinterface for accessing the cloud-based platform/environment/workspace.From another practical standpoint, the controlled launching interfacealso provides a convenient means for the developers of the third-partyapplications 120 to advertise their software.

The users viewing files in the cloud-based environment (e.g., via userinterface 104 as provided by the mobile application) can browse,install, choose, select, and/or operate third-party applications 120(e.g., via the controlled launching interface) that incorporate thesoftware library or framework that implements the disclosed techniques.The controlled launching interface can further filter the selectionbased on the type of file the user is trying to access. Among others, byproviding a consistent user interface and level of security across thethird-party applications 120 accessing the cloud-based platform, thesoftware library or framework which implements the techniques disclosedherein provides flexibility to the user in choosing own preferredthird-party applications 120, improves user experience, and reducesadministrative burdens of those information technology (IT) personnel.

It is noted that the aforementioned embodiments with respect to themobile application and/or the software library/framework are merely someaspects of the present disclosed techniques. More implementation detailsregarding the host server 110 and the third-party application 120 arediscussed below.

FIG. 2 depicts an example diagram of a web-based or online collaborationplatform deployed in an enterprise or other organizational setting 250for organizing work items 215, 235, 255 and workspaces 205, 225, 245.

The web-based platform for collaborating on projects or jointly workingon documents can be used by individual users and shared amongcollaborators. In addition, the collaboration platform can be deployedin an organized setting including but not limited to, a company (e.g.,an enterprise setting), a department in a company, an academicinstitution, a department in an academic institution, a class or coursesetting, or any other types of organizations or organized setting.

When deployed in an organizational setting, multiple workspaces (e.g.,workspace A, B C) can be created to support different projects or avariety of work flows. Each workspace can have its own associate workitems. For example, workspace A 205 can be associated with work items215, workspace B 225 can be associated with work items 235, andworkspace N can be associated with work items 255. The work items 215,235, and 255 can be unique to each workspace but need not be. Forexample, a particular word document can be associated with only oneworkspace (e.g., workspace A 205) or it can be associated with multipleworkspaces (e.g., Workspace A 205 and workspace B 225, etc.).

In general, each workspace has a set of users or collaboratorsassociated with it. For example, workspace A 205 is associated withmultiple users or collaborators 206. In some instances, workspacesdeployed in an enterprise can be department specific. For example,workspace B can be associated with department 210 and some users shownas example user A 208 and workspace N 245 can be associated withdepartments 212 and 216 and users shown as example user B 214.

Each user associated with a workspace can generally access the workitems associated with the workspace. The level of access depends onpermissions associated with the specific workspace, and/or with aspecific work item. Permissions can be set for the workspace or setindividually on a per work item basis. For example, the creator of aworkspace (e.g., one of user A 208 who creates workspace B) can set onepermission setting applicable to all work items 235 for other associatedusers and/or users associated with the affiliate department 210, forexample. Creator user A 208 can also set different permission settingsfor each work item, which can be the same for different users, orvarying for different users.

In each workspace A, B . . . N, when an action is performed on a workitem by a given user or any other activity is detected in the workspace,other users in the same workspace can be notified (e.g., in real time orin near real time, or not in real time). Activities which trigger realtime notifications can include, by way of example but not limitation,adding, deleting, or modifying collaborators in the workspace,uploading, downloading, adding, deleting a work item in the workspace,creating a discussion topic in the workspace.

In some embodiments, items or content downloaded or edited can causenotifications to be generated. Such notifications can be sent torelevant users to notify them of actions surrounding a download, anedit, a change, a modification, a new file, a conflicting version, anupload of an edited or modified file.

In one embodiment, in a user interface to the web-based collaborationplatform where notifications are presented, users can, via the sameinterface, create action items (e.g., tasks) and delegate the actionitems to other users including collaborators pertaining to a work item215, for example. The collaborators 206 can be in the same workspace A205 or the user can include a newly invited collaborator. Similarly, inthe same user interface where discussion topics can be created in aworkspace (e.g., workspace A, B or N, etc.), actionable events on workitems can be created and/or delegated/assigned to other users such ascollaborators of a given workspace 206 or other users. Through the sameuser interface, task status and updates from multiple users orcollaborators can be indicated and reflected. In some instances, theusers can perform the tasks (e.g., review or approve or reject, etc.)via the same user interface.

FIG. 3 depicts an example diagram of a workspace 302 in an online orweb-based collaboration environment accessible by multiple collaborators322 through various devices.

Each of users 316, 318, and 320 can individually use multiple differentdevices to access and/or manipulate work items 324 in the workspace 302with which they are associated with. For example users 316, 318, 320 canbe collaborators on a project to which work items 324 are relevant.Since the work items 324 are hosted by the collaboration environment(e.g., a cloud-based environment), each user can access the work items324 anytime, and from any physical location using any device (e.g.,including devices they own or any shared/public/loaner device).

Work items to be edited or viewed can be accessed from the workspace302. Users can also be notified of access, edit, modification, and/orupload related-actions performed on work items 324 by other users or anyother types of activities detected in the workspace 302. For example, ifuser 316 modifies a document, one or both of the other collaborators 318and 320 can be notified of the modification in real time, or nearreal-time, or not in real time. The notifications can be sent throughany of all of the devices associated with a given user, in variousformats including, one or more of, email, SMS, or via a pop-up window ina user interface in which the user uses to access the collaborationplatform. In the event of multiple notifications, each notification canbe depicted preferentially (e.g., ordering in the user interface) basedon user preferences and/or relevance to the user (e.g., implicit orexplicit).

For example, a notification of a download, access, read, write, edit, oruploaded related activities can be presented in a feed stream amongother notifications through a user interface on the user deviceaccording to relevancy to the user determined based on current or recentactivity of the user in the web-based collaboration environment.

In one embodiment, the notification feed stream further enables users tocreate or generate actionable events (e.g., as task) which are or can beperformed by other users 316 or collaborators 322 (e.g., including adminusers or other users not in the same workspace), either in the sameworkspace 302 or in some other workspace. The actionable events such astasks can also be assigned or delegated to other users via the same userinterface.

For example, a given notification regarding a work item 324 can beassociated with user interface features allowing a user 316 to assign atask related to the work item 324 (e.g., to another user 316, admin user318, creator user 320 or another user). In one embodiment, a commentinguser interface or a comment action associated with a notification can beused in conjunction with user interface features to enable taskassignment, delegation, and/or management of the relevant work item orwork items in the relevant workspaces, in the same user interface.

Now, with reference to both FIGS. 1 and 3, techniques for a third-partyapplication to access content stored within a cloud-based platform orenvironment in an integrated, secure manner are described in fullerdetail.

As previously mentioned, when user 316 or his/her collaborators 322desire to access content (e.g., a work item 324) stored in the workspace302 using a third-party application (e.g., application 120, FIG. 1), theuser 316 can send a request to access the work item 324 by firstselecting to open the file in workspace 302 using a user interface(e.g., interface 104, FIG. 1) of the workspace 302. According to someembodiments, the user interface 104 is provided via a mobileapplication, which can be installed on user devices 304-314. In someother embodiments, the user interface 104 is web-based and is accessibleby a web browser on user devices 304-314.

In some of those embodiments that include the mobile application, theselected work item 324 is downloaded to the user devices 304-314, andthe mobile application has access control over the downloaded work item324. For example, the mobile application can store the work item 324 onthe device or in a memory space (e.g., a cache, a RAM, or a Flashmemory) on the devices 304-314, and limits access to the device or thememory space that stores the work item 324 so as to prevent unauthorizedreading of, editing to, or modifying of the work item 324. Unauthorizedaccess can include an access from any application not using anapplication programming interface (API) or a software library/frameworkthat is provided the provider of workspace 302, and/or an access notgranted or otherwise controlled by the mobile application.Alternatively, the mobile application can directly access the work item324 in workspace 302 by temporarily caching the at least partiallydownload file that includes the content of work item 324, a well-knowntechnique that can also be employed in some of those embodiments wherethe user interface 104 is web-based.

Additionally, the mobile application can launch the third-partyapplication 120 using a controlled launching interface that is differentfrom an application launching interface provided by an operating systemof the user devices 304-314 so that additional functionalities can beprovided. In some embodiments, the mobile application can prompt (e.g.,via the controlled launching interface) the user to select whichthird-party application the user wishes to use for accessing or contentediting. The selection prompted can include, for example, a plurality ofapplications already installed on user devices 304-314, and/or caninclude one or more suggested applications for the user to download andinstall. Further, the selection can be based on a type (e.g., adocumentation (.doc), a presentation slide (.ppt), or a video clip(.avi)) of the work item 324 that the user currently selects foraccessing.

Then, the mobile application provides (e.g., in response to a requestsent by the launched third-party application 120 via the provided API orthe software library/framework, or automatically as a part of thecontrolled launching mechanisms of the user interface 104) the file tothe third-party application 120 for one or more actions (e.g., accessesor edits) to be performed on the file by the third-party application120, and in the meantime, the mobile application also restricts thethird-party application 120 to store the accessed file or content backto the workspace 302. In some embodiments, the mobile applicationrestricts the third-party application 120 by an operating system (OS)level hook, or the API/software library/framework restricts thethird-party application 120 so that any sharing or saving mechanisms ofthe third-party application 120 other than storing back to the workspace302 is prohibited. For purposes of discussion herein, a “software hook”or “hooking” includes various suitable techniques known to a personhaving ordinary skill in the art to alter or augment the behavior of theOS and of the third-party applications 120 by intercepting functioncalls or messages and/or events passed between components of the OS andthe third-party applications 120.

Further, in some embodiments, the third-party applications 120 include auser interface which is customized to enable storage of the accessedfile (e.g., work item 324) back to the cloud-based environment (e.g.,workspace 302). One example of this customized user interface whichenables the third-party application 120 to store back accessed contentto the workspace 302 is illustrated in FIG. 4, which includes a partialscreenshot 400 of the third-party application 120. The third-partyapplication shown in FIG. 4 includes a third-party application toolbar405, which in turn includes a designated, selectable button 410 toenable the store back. In some implementations, the toolbar 405 iscustomized so that no other navigation or option (e.g., save locally,save to another location, or share via email, etc.) is available. Insome implementations, the third-party application is provided in acustomized view, and the customized view constrains the third-partyapplication 120 to save the content back to the workspace 302.

After the user accesses or edits the work item 324 using the third-partyapplication 120 (e.g., provided in a customized view, and/or with acustomized toolbar 405), and after the user selects the designatedbutton 410, the mobile application retrieves the work item 324 from thethird-party application 120. Additionally, all the metadata, forexample, tags or other data which characterize the work item 324 such aswho the author and collaborators are, or version histories, areretrieved back along with the work item 324. The metadata can alsoinclude information about the file or work item 324's location and itsstorage in the cloud-based platform (such as workspace 302 provided bythe host server 110) including, for example, folder identifier (ID),file ID, folder path to the file, file name, folder name and/or anyother identifying information. Additionally, the metadata can includeinformation about how to control the data for security purposesincluding, for example, whether the file or the work item 324 can bestored in the third-party application 120, or whether the file or workitem 324 needs to be sent back to the workspace 302 immediately withoutleaving any temporary or cache copies. Another example of suchinformation is whether the file can be shared out to other third-partyapplications. In some embodiments, copies created by the third-partyapplication 120 during the access, if any, are deleted after the editedor accessed work item 324 is retrieved (e.g., based on the informationcontained in metadata). According to one or more embodiments, theretrieval is performed using the software library provided by theprovider of workspace 302.

After the mobile application retrieves the work item 324, it can managethe upload back to a host server (e.g., host server 110, FIG. 1) whichhosts the workspace 302. For example, the mobile application can open anupload dialog view pointing a folder the user originally stores the workitem 324. The user then selects upload, and the work item 324 is storedback to the workspace 302 through the mobile application. In someembodiments, the mobile application can determine whether the server 110is accessible. If the server 110 is determined accessible, then themobile application transmits the retrieved work item 324 to the server,and deletes the memory space on the user devices 304-314 that originallystores the work item 324. If the server 110 is determined inaccessible,then the mobile application retains the retrieved work item 324 from thedevice or in the memory space of the device until the server 110 becomesaccessible.

In this way, the mobile application implementing the techniquesdisclosed herein acts as a mediator between the workspace 302 and thethird-party applications 120, manages uploads and downloads, and ensuresthat file transfer happens securely through the softwareAPI/library/framework provided by the provider of workspace 302. As saidabove, the disclosed techniques grants the third-party applications 120access to content of the cloud-based platform and ensures security byproviding no sharing or saving mechanism other than storage back to thecloud-based platform to the third-party application 120. The disclosedtechniques also include deletion of files on user devices 304-314 oncethe files are retrieved and transferred back to the cloud-basedplatform. Also, since upload management such as all uploadingactivities, errors, and retries are controlled and performed by themobile application, developers of the third-party applications 120 canbenefit from the reduced workload in designing such uploadingfunctionalities.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the disclosed techniquesinclude providing the third-party application 120 with access to thecloud-based collaborative environment (e.g., workspace 302) where thethird-party application is provided to the users as a web-basedapplication (e.g., accessible via a web browser). The third-partyapplication can be running on the host server 110 or on a separatethird-party application server.

In some embodiments, a system implementing the disclosed techniques can,responsive to a request to access or edit a work item 324 in theworkspace 302, grant access of the work item 324 to the third-partyapplication 120. The request of access or edit of the file is from anyone of a collaborator 322 of the file. The third-party application 120can include a user interface (e.g., toolbar 405, FIG. 4) which iscustomized to enable storage of the accessed or edited work item 324 tothe cloud-based environment such as workspace 302.

More specifically, in some embodiments, the third-party application 120is integrated with the workspace 302 such that the work item 324accessed or edited using the third-party application 120 through theworkspace 302 is restricted to be stored back to the workspace 302 afterthe access or edit. In one or more embodiments, the work item 324 isretrieved, from the third-party application 120 after the work item 324is accessed or edited, to be viewed via a web application to theworkspace 302. The storage of the accessed or edited file (or work item324) to the cloud-based environment (or workspace 302) includesmetadata.

Moreover, according to some embodiments, after the access or the editusing the third-party application 120, the work item 324 is uploaded tothe cloud-based workspace 302 for storage. During or after the access orthe edit of the file using the third-party application 120, sharing orsaving mechanisms of the third-party application 120 is prohibited bythe cloud-based environment.

In some examples, copies of the file not stored in the cloud-basedenvironment after the access or the edit are deleted. Additionally oralternatively, the cloud-based environment can manage uploads of filesaccessed and edited using the third-party application 120 back to thecloud-based environment. In some examples, the cloud-based environmentcan also manage error handling of file access or file edits using thethird-party application 120.

Further, in some embodiments disclosed herein, the third-partyapplication can be selected by the user of the cloud-based environmentamong multiple third-party applications available for selection in thecloud-based environment. In addition, the third-party application 120can be authored by a partnering entity of the provider of thecloud-based platform. In a mutually beneficial manner, those third-partyapplications which adhere to guidelines and/or policies in implementingsecured access of the cloud-based platform (e.g., by using API/softwarelibrary/software framework as provided by the cloud service provider)can get promoted or advertised by the provider of such cloud-basedplatform. As an option, the third-party application 120 can be providedwithin a view (e.g., similar to the interface as shown in FIG. 4) whichconstrains the third-party application 120 to save the content back toan original location of the file.

In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, an option is providedin a user interface of the third-party application 120 for accessing thecloud-based platform. An example of such option is illustrated as option510 in screenshot 500 of FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, the user interfaceof third-party application 120 is customized to include the option 510to save content accessed using the third-party application 120 to thecloud-based platform. In response to activation of the option, themobile application receives the file from the third-party application120 (e.g., which is installed on user devices as a mobile application oris provided as a web-based application). This technique is especiallyuseful in those embodiments where the user interface 104 is provided viathe mobile application (such as the one described above), and when theuser desires to edit and upload a local file to the cloud-based platformsuch as workspace 302 in an integrated, secure manner. In some of theseembodiments, the mobile application manages the uploading the file tothe cloud-based platform (e.g., determining whether a server hosting thecloud-based platform is accessible and corresponding actions in responseto results from the determination) in a similar manner described above.

Additionally, in some embodiments, if the option is selected by theuser, and yet the mobile application is not installed on the user'sdevice, then a link is populated or presented to the user to prompt theuser to install the mobile application so that the uploading can behandled.

Depending on the application, in some alternative embodiments, the userinterface of the third-party can still limit the third-party application120 to save the content accessed using the third-party application 120to the workspace 302 or a server hosting the third-party application120. In some implementations, the user interface prevents sharing of thecontent accessed using the third-party application besides saving thecontent. The user interface of the third-party application can becustomized using tools provided by the cloud-based platform.Additionally or alternatively, the third-party application is providedwithin a view by the cloud-based environment, and the view constrainsthe third-party application to save the content back to an originallocation of the file.

In an additional aspect of the present disclosure, another configurationof the third-party application 120 can be adopted which can furtherenhance information security of the work item 324. In thisconfiguration, the third-party application 120's normal operationsinvolve the third-party application 120 operating on, for example, theuser devices 304-314, and a server being associated with the third-partyapplication 120 (or a “third-party application server”) to supply orsupplement data/information that facilitates the normal operations ofthe third-party application 120. In some embodiments, the serverassociated with the third-party application 120 is operated by a vendoror an author entity of the third-party application 120.

In some of the embodiments, when user 316 or his/her collaborators 322desire to access content (e.g., a work item 324) stored in the workspace302 using a third-party application (e.g., application 120, FIG. 1), theuser 316 can first select to open the file or work item 324 in workspace302 using a user interface (e.g., interface 104, FIG. 1) of theworkspace 302. Similar to some embodiments described above, the userinterface 104 can be provided via a mobile application, or can beweb-based and accessible by a web browser on user devices 304-314. Anexample of such user interface 104 that is provided via the mobileapplication is illustrated in screenshot 1000 of FIG. 10.

Then, when the user selects the file in the user interface 104 (e.g.,via one or more tapping on file 1010, FIG. 10) for accessing (e.g., forviewing, editing, signing, etc.), the mobile application can prompt theuser to choose which third-party application 120 that he or she desiresto use. Thereafter, the user devices 102 launches the third-partyapplication 120 (e.g., application 1100 shown in FIG. 11), which cancommunicate with the third-party application server and the host server110 so that the third-party application 120 can access the work item 324through the third-party application server.

According to one or more embodiments, the third-party application 120 islisted in a list of approved third-party applications. Some embodimentsprovide that the third-party application 120 is launched on the userdevices 102 using a controlled launching interface that is differentfrom an application launching interface provided by an operating systemof the user devices 102. In one or more embodiments, if such approvedthird-party application 120 is not currently installed on the userdevice 304-314, then at least a portion of the list of approvedthird-party applications can be populated in the controlled launchinginterface (or, alternative or additionally, in another separateinterface, e.g., an application store as provided by the OS of device304-314, or an application gallery which can be provided by thethird-party application 120) for downloading. An example of suchapplication gallery containing approved third-party applications isillustrated in a screenshot 1200 of FIG. 12 as interface 1210.

Upon the user's selection, the mobile application (which can be alsoreferred to as a “mobile client” herein) sends metadata that identifiesthe work item 324 to the third-party application 120. After receivingthe metadata from the mobile application, the third-party application120 transmits the metadata to the third-party application server, whichin turn utilizes those metadata to request the work item 324 from thehost server 110. That is to say, the third-party application server canrequest the work item 324 from the host server 110 by transmitting themetadata to the host server 110.

Next, the host server 110 returns the requested work item 324 asidentified by the metadata to third-party application server. Afterreceiving the requested work item 324 from the host server 110,third-party application server communicates with and/or rendersinformation to the third-party application 120. More specifically, thethird-party application server transmits at least a portion of the fileor work item 324 to the third-party application 120 for one or moreactions to be performed on the portion of the work item 324. In someembodiments, the part of the work item 324 received by the third-partyapplication 120 includes information that is capable to create a view ofat least a partial content of the work item 324. For example, theinformation can be capable to generate several views of a PDF file, afirst few slides of a Powerpoint presentation, a number of pages of aWord document, and so forth. In some embodiments, the part of the workitem 324 received by the third-party application 120 includes data thatare included the file. Some embodiments of the third-party applicationserver is to transmit the entire file instead of a portion of the file.

After the access, the third-party application 120 transmits the workitem 324 back to the third-party application server. In some alternativeembodiments, the third-party application 120 transmits only an accessedportion of the work item 324 back to the third-party application serverto conserve network resources. The third-party application receives theaccessed portion of the work item 324 from the third-party application120, and saves the accessed file or content back to the host server 110.

The third-party application 120 can also launch/awake/switch to themobile application and notifies the mobile application to reload thework item 324 from the host server 110.

As a part of the security enhancing features, the third-partyapplication 120 can receive an instruction from the cloud-basedenvironment (e.g., from the host server 110) to delete the received partof the work item 324. In another example, the third-party application120 may be restricted the to store the received content back to thecloud-based environment. In some embodiments, the third-partyapplication server can keep a history of the access. The history canincludes information regarding, for example, which third-partyapplication accessed what content through what method from what locationat what time.

As additional or alternative embodiments, upon returning to thethird-party application 120, the mobile application can prompt user 316when it is about to discard previously opened content. Morespecifically, when user 316 works on a file passed from the mobileapplication of the cloud-based environment and subsequently exits thethird-party application 120 without saving or closing the edit view, ifthe user 316 returns to the third-party application 120, the mobileapplication can allow the user 316 to continue editing. For example,activating “close” (e.g., button 1110, FIG. 11) from this view caneither return to the mobile application (e.g., shown in screenshot 1000,FIG. 10) or return to a main view (not shown for simplicity) of thethird-party application 120. If the user 316 opens another file from themobile application, the user 316 is to be prompted on whether or not todiscard the previously worked-on file or content.

In still another aspect of the present disclosure, among others alreadymentioned above, some additional or alternative methods and apparatusescan provide a third-party application with access to content in acloud-based environment without the need of having a mobile application(or a mobile client) installed on the user devices 304-314. According tosome embodiments, a mobile application framework/API/library can enablethe third-party application 120 to directly access (e.g., opens, edits,saves back, etc.) the work item 324 in a cloud-based environment such asworkspace 302.

It is noted that the third-party application 120 is hosted by an entitydifferent from that of the cloud-based environment, and the directaccess to the content in the cloud-based environment is provided to thethird-party application 120 and accomplished without a need to access anapplication (e.g., the mobile application/mobile agent) that is nativeto the cloud-based environment. The direct access to the contentincludes direct save of the content to or retrieval of the content fromthe cloud-based environment. Other examples of the direct access to thecontent can include, but not limited to, previewing the content in thecloud-based environment, collaborating on the content in the cloud-basedenvironment among multiple collaborators of the user. In someembodiments, the direct access is provided through a web interface ofthe third party application. In some other embodiments, the directaccess is provided through integration of the third-party applicationwith an application program interface (API) or web API provided by thecloud-based environment. The application program interface or the webAPI can be further used for one or more of navigation, file management,file transfer, collaboration in the cloud-based environment, and/or forcaching in the cloud-based environment.

Generally speaking, the embodiments of third-party application 120 thatimplement these direct-access techniques, which can be authored by a“partnering entity,” are better written applications in terms of qualityand/or functionality, and they generally have a more complete, secureintegration (in various manners that are discussed herein including, forexample, remote delete, or limited saving/sharing mechanisms, etc.) withthe workspace 302. These applications may be endorsed and put on a listof approved third-party applications. Further, they may be populated oradvertised using the controlled launching interface or a separatedownloading interface as above described.

For example, some of these third-party application 120 (e.g.,application 1100 shown in FIG. 11) can bring the benefit of convenienceand security by making the user experience simple to edit files using amobile device. Those changes made from the mobile device can be savedback to workspace 302 automatically. As mentioned, workspace 302 canalso enable the user 316 (and collaborators 322) to add annotations toimportant documents, highlight and make notes on work items 324, and/orsave back to workspace 302 so that all collaborators 322's workprogresses are aligned.

More specifically, to access the work item 324 in the workspace 302, thethird-party application 120 can transmit a request to the host server110. In some embodiments, a vendor of the third-party application 120can, for example, pre-register with the host server 110 so that an APIkey that identifies the third-party application 120 (or the vendor ofthe application 120) can be received.

During third-party application 120's normal operation, application 120can use the API key to first request from the host server 110 a ticket.For one example, the third-party application 120 can make the followingAPI call:

GET https://www.box.com/api/1.0/rest?action=get_ticket&api_key=[API KEY]and the third-party application 120 may receive from the host server110, for example, an XML response that contains the ticket.

In one or more embodiments, the ticket automatically expires after apredetermined amount of time, for example, 10 minutes. After receivingthe ticket, the third-party application 120 then makes the request,which includes the ticket, to the host server 110 for a login view.

In response to such request, the host server 110 can provides thethird-party application 120 with the login view to verify an identity ofa user. The login view is generated from the host server 110. Forexample, the third-party application 120 can include a login viewcontroller which embeds a web view and handles the whole login process.In one embodiment, the provided login view is embedded in an interfaceof the third-party application 120.

Further, in some embodiments, the login view is provided based onwhether the user is logged into the cloud-based environment. Accordingto some embodiments, the login view is provided if the user is notlogged into the workspace 302.

Then, upon the verification of the user's identity, the host server 110provides the requested work item 342 to the third-party application 120.In some embodiments, to further security, when the host server 110determines that it is the third-party application 120 which sends outthe request, the host server 110 only responds to such request if thethird-party application 120 is listed in a list of approved third-partyapplications.

Additionally or alternatively, the host server 110 further transmits anauthentication token to the third-party application 120 after the user'sidentity is verified. In some embodiments, the workspace 302 isencrypted, and the authentication token includes a decryption key todecrypt the workspace 302. Some examples of such encryption/decryptionalgorithms include AES, DES, as well as other suitable cryptologicalgorithms. Some implementation of the authentication token canautomatically expire after a certain period of time, which may bepredetermined, and/or may be dynamically and automatically selected. Insome embodiments, the authentication token does not expire over time,and the third-party application 120 can therefore store theauthentication token for future use, so that user 316 only needs toauthenticate with the third-party application 120 once. Theauthentication tokens can be deleted, for example, when user 316 “logsout”, when re-authenticating a user, or when the user removing thethird-party application 120 manually.

The third-party application 120 can store the authentication token in a“keychain” or other suitable, secure storage after receiving theauthentication token. Then, either the host server 110 or thethird-party application 120 or both can detect presence of theauthentication token that is previously sent and still valid. In someembodiments, the login view is not generated again by the host server110 if, upon receiving a subsequent request from the application 120 toaccess the workspace 302, the authentication token is present on thethird-party application 120.

In manners similar to those already discussed above, some embodiments ofthe third-party application 120 has a user interface customized toenable storage of the accessed content back to the cloud-basedenvironment. Moreover, in one or more embodiments, the third-partyapplication 120 is listed in a list of approved third-partyapplications.

Further, the host server 110 can keep a history of the access, such asinformation regarding which third-party application accessed whatcontent. The third-party application can also receive an instructionfrom the cloud-based environment to delete the received content (e.g.,work item 324). The third-party application 120 is restricted to storethe received work item 324 back to the workspace 302.

Overall, among other features, the third-party application 120 providesindependent encryption of the files in the mobile application (or mobileclient) of the workspace 302 and/or the third-party application 120. Itcan support remote wipe and logout to ensure content downloaded (if any)from the workspace 302 can be removed if so desired. Some embodimentsalso provide that only a specified list of trusted (e.g., approved byadministrator) applications can access the cloud-based workspace 302.The administrator can also specify from which devices 304-314 user 316can access the workspace 302. The host server 110 can provide audittrail to track which third-party applications 120 and/or user 316accessed what content. Data leakage can be prevented by, in someembodiments, only allowing sharing and collaboration through the mobileapplication of the workspace 302 or an approved third-party application120. With the embodiments disclosed herein, security audits or reportscan be generated (e.g., from those tracking histories) by either thethird-party application 120 or the host server 110 for administrativereviews. Administrators can oversee devices 304-314 and installedthird-party applications 120 remotely.

In some embodiments, the third-party applications 120 can further settiers for its users based on one or more suitable criteria. For example,if a partnering third-party application 120 (or an approved application)does not require certain security or user interface functionality forfree users, the application 120 can still provide those additionalfunctionalities or can selectively enforce those security restrictionsfor paid customers (e.g., employees whose employers pay for thesoftware) if applicable administrators set so.

In this way, the users can enjoy the flexibility in selecting thethird-party applications they so prefer, which potentially enables theusers to perform a wider variety of tasks on the files from a locationand/or a device of their preference. Also, because the files are storedand managed and/or controlled in the cloud-based platform, businessenterprise users or administrators can also enjoy the securityassurances from having unified, standardized, and integrated accesscontrols over content stored in the cloud-based platform.

FIG. 6 depicts a flowchart illustrating an example process 600 for athird-party application to access content within a cloud-based platformin an integrated manner. For example, a user wishes to access or editcontent (e.g., a file) stored in a cloud-based environment/platformusing a third-party application (e.g., a photo editor, or a wordprocessor).

First, with reference to FIGS. 1, 3-5, the user (e.g., user 316, FIG. 3)selects to open or access the file (e.g., work item 324, FIG. 3) using auser interface (e.g., interface 104, FIG. 1) of the cloud-basedenvironment (e.g., workspace 302, FIG. 3), which can be hosted by aserver (e.g., host server 110, FIG. 1). The interface 104 can begenerated by an agent application (e.g., a mobile application, or a webapplication) of the workspace 302 and has access thereto. Then, the user316 may select which third-party application (e.g., application 120,FIG. 1) that the user 316 wants to use. In some embodiments, theselection made available to the user 316 is filtered based on a type ofthe work item 324. In some embodiments, the selection can be madeautomatically without user input, or can be made based on a prior inputfrom the user 316, an administrator (e.g., administrator 318, FIG. 3),or from other suitable sources. In some embodiments, the selection menufor selecting which third-party application 120 to launch is acontrolled launching interface that is separate from an applicationlaunching interface provided by an operating system (OS) of the user316's devices (e.g., devices 102, FIG. 1; devices 304-314, FIG. 3).

Then, the agent receives a request to access the work item 324 stored inthe workspace 302. The request can be made from the third-partyapplication 120, or the file opening process can be made automatic sothat no express request from the third-party application 120 isnecessary (e.g., the request can be made from OS calls, or from othersuitable mechanisms). In all cases, in response to the request to accessthe work item 324 in the workspace 302, the agent grants (610) access ofthe work item 324 to the third-party application 120. In someembodiments, the third-party application 120 includes a user interface(e.g., a third-party application toolbar 405 which includes a designatedbutton 410) which is customized to enable storage of the accessed workitem 324 back to the workspace 302. In some embodiments, the agentrestricts (614) the third-party application 120 to store the accessedwork item 324 back to the workspace 302. The restriction can beperformed, for example, by an OS level hook, or by other suitable means.

After the third-party application 120 performs accesses or edits to thework item 324, the agent retrieves (620) the work item 324 from thethird-party application 120. In some embodiments, the agent deletes(622) copies created by the third-party application 120 during theaccess. Next, the agent uploads (630) the retrieved work item 324 to thehost server 110 that hosts the workspace 302.

FIG. 7 depicts a flowchart illustrating another example process 700 fora third-party application to access content within a cloud-basedplatform in an integrated manner. For example, when a user desires toedit and upload a local file to a cloud-based platform.

First, with reference to FIGS. 1, 3-5, an agent application (e.g., amobile application, or a web application) of the cloud-based platform(e.g., workspace 302, FIG. 3) can provide (710) an option (e.g., option510, FIG. 5) in a user interface of a third-party application (e.g.,application 120, FIG. 1) for accessing the workspace 302. Examples ofthe providing include any kind of suitable internal or externalcommunication channels between the agent and the third-party application120 including, for example, an application programming interface (API),a software library, a software framework which the third-partyapplication 120 can adopt, and so forth. In some embodiments, the userinterface of third-party application 120 is customized to include theoption to save content accessed using the third-party application 120 tothe workspace 302, which is hosted by a server (e.g., host server 110,FIG. 1).

Then, in response to activation of the option, the agent receives (720)a file from the third-party application 120. Next, the agent uploads(730) the received file to the host server 110 that hosts the workspace302. Additionally or alternatively, if the option is activated and ifthe agent is not present, then a link is presented to the user (e.g.,user 316, FIG. 3) to install the agent to handle the uploading.

FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart illustrating further details which can beadopted by the processes of FIG. 6 or FIG. 7 in accordance with someembodiments.

Continuing with the examples discussed with respect to processes 600 and700, in some embodiments, the agent can employ process 800 of FIG. 8when the agent uploads the retrieved or received file(s) to the hostserver 110.

First, the agent determines (810) whether the host server 110 hostingthe workspace 302 is accessible. If the host server 110 is determinedaccessible, then the agent transmits (820) the retrieved or receivedfile(s) to the host server 110. In addition, the agent deletes (830) thefile the device or from a memory space of the client's user devices 102,304-314 that stores the file.

On the other hand, if the host server 110 is determined inaccessible,then the agent retains (840) the file on the user device or in thememory space of the client's user devices 102, 304-314 until the hostserver 110 becomes accessible.

Overall, the techniques disclosed herein provide both accessibility ofcontent within a cloud-based workspace to third-party applications andcontrollability over the manner of the third-party applications'accesses, thereby allowing the users to enjoy the freedom and benefit ofchoosing their own preferred programs from a wide-variety of third-partyapplications while maintaining or enhancing the security of the contentstored within the cloud-based workspace.

FIG. 13 depicts a flowchart illustrating an example process 1300 whichcan be performed by a third-party application to gain access to contentin a cloud-based environment, and FIG. 14 depicts a flowchartillustrating an example process 1400 which can be performed by a hostserver for providing the third-party application of FIG. 13 with accessto content in a cloud-based environment. With reference to FIGS. 1, 3,13, and 14, the processes 1300 and 1400 are described.

First, to access content (e.g., work item 324, FIG. 3) in thecloud-based environment (e.g., workspace 302, FIG. 3), a third-partyapplication (e.g., application 120, FIG. 1) can transmit (1310) arequest to a server which hosts the workspace 302 (e.g., the host server110, FIG. 1). In response to such request, the host server 110 canprovides (1410) the third-party application 120 with a login view toverify (1410) an identity of a user. The login view is generated (1410)from the host server 110. In one embodiment, the provided login view isembedded (1322) in an interface of the third-party application 120. Insome embodiments, the third-party application 120 is listed (1412) in alist of approved third-party applications. The third-party application120 can also include (1414) a user interface customized to enablestorage of the accessed content back to the cloud-based environment.

Further, in some embodiments, the login view is provided (1320, 1416)based on whether the user is logged into the cloud-based environment.According to some embodiments, the login view is provided if the user isnot logged into the workspace 302. Depending on the embodiment, eitherthe host server 110 or the third-party application 120 can make thedetermination as to the user's login status with respect to thecloud-based environment, and can accordingly generate/request the loginview.

Then, upon the verification of the user's identity, the host server 110provides (1420) the requested work item 342 to the third-partyapplication 120. The third-party application 120 receives (1330) thework item 342 to perform one or more actions. In some embodiments, tofurther security, when the host server 110 determines that it is thethird-party application 120 which sends out the request, the host server110 only responds to such request if the third-party application 120 islisted (1412) in a list of approved third-party applications.

Additionally or alternatively, the host server 110 further transmits(1340, 1430) an authentication token to the third-party application 120after the user's identity is verified. In some embodiments, theworkspace 302 is encrypted (1342, 1434), and the authentication tokenincludes (1342, 1434) a decryption key to decrypt the workspace 302.Some examples of such encryption/decryption algorithms include AES, DES,as well as other suitable cryptologic algorithms. Some implementation ofthe authentication token can automatically expire after a certain periodof time, which may be predetermined, and/or may be dynamically andautomatically selected. In some embodiments, the authentication tokendoes not expire over time, and the third-party application 120 cantherefore store the authentication token for future use, so that user316 only needs to authenticate with the third-party application 120once. The authentication tokens can be deleted, for example, when user316 logs out, when re-authenticating a user, or when the user removingthe third-party application 120 manually.

The third-party application 120 can store the authentication token in a“keychain” or other suitable, secure storage after receiving theauthentication token. Then, either the host server 110 or thethird-party application 120 or both can detect (1350) presence of theauthentication token that is previously sent and still valid. In someembodiments, the login view is not generated again (1352, 1432) by thehost server 110 if, upon receiving a subsequent request from theapplication 120 to access the workspace 302, the authentication token ispresent on the third-party application 120.

Further, the host server 110 can keep (1440) a history of the access,such as information regarding which third-party application accessedwhat content. The third-party application can also receive aninstruction from the cloud-based environment to delete the receivedcontent (e.g., work item 324). The third-party application 120 isrestricted to store the received work item 324 back to the workspace302.

FIG. 15 depicts a flowchart illustrating an example process 1500 whichcan be performed by a third-party application, through a third-partyapplication server, to gain access to content in a cloud-basedenvironment, and FIG. 16 depicts a flowchart illustrating an exampleprocess 1600 which can be performed by the third-party applicationserver of FIG. 15 for providing the third-party application with accessto content in a cloud-based environment. With reference to FIGS. 1, 3,15, and 16, the processes 1500 and 1600 are described.

First, an agent application (e.g., a mobile application, or a webapplication) of the cloud-based platform (e.g., workspace 302, FIG. 3)can prompt a user (e.g., user 316, or collaborator 322, FIG. 3) toselect a file (e.g., work item 324) to access, and select whichapplication (e.g., third-party application 120) to use to access thework item 324.

Upon the user's selection, the mobile application sends metadata thatidentifies the work item 324 to the third-party application 120. Afterthe third-party application 120 receives (1510) the metadata from themobile application (1512), the third-party application 120 transmits(1520) the metadata to a third-party application server which isassociated to the third-party application 120. The third-partyapplication server receives (1610) the metadata, and transmits (1620)those metadata to request (1620) the work item 324 from the host server110.

Next, the host server 110 returns the requested work item 324 asidentified by the metadata to third-party application server. Thethird-party application server receives (1630) the requested work item324 from the host server 110, and then communicates with and/or rendersinformation to the third-party application 120. More specifically, thethird-party application server transmits (1640) at least a portion ofthe file or work item 324 to the third-party application 120. After thethird-party application 120 receives (1530) the at least a portion ofthe work item 324, one or more actions can be performed on the portionof the work item 324 by the third-party application 120. In someembodiments, the part of the work item 324 received by the third-partyapplication 120 includes information that is capable to create a view ofat least a partial content of the work item 324. In some embodiments,the part of the work item 324 received by the third-party application120 includes data that are included the file.

After the access, the third-party application 120 transmits (1540) thework item 324 back to the third-party application server. In somealternative embodiments, the third-party application 120 transmits(1540) only an accessed portion of the work item 324 back to thethird-party application server to conserve network resources. Thethird-party application receives (1650) the accessed portion of the workitem 324 from the third-party application 120, and saves (1660, 1542)the accessed file or content back to the host server 110.

The third-party application 120 can also launch/awake/switch to themobile application and notifies (1550) the mobile application to reloadthe work item 324 from the host server 110.

FIGS. 9A and 9B depict two flowcharts respectively illustrating twoexample processes 900 and 905 which a mobile application of thecloud-based environment can perform so as to provide the file to thethird-party application.

Processes 900 and 905 can be employed by the mobile application of thecloud-based environment in the manners described above. Morespecifically, those embodiments in which the mobile application acts asan agent application in providing the third-party application 120 withaccess to content in the cloud-based workspace/platform/environment canadopt these processes 900 and/or 905 in enhancing security. Each of theprocesses 900 and 905 incorporates security enhancing measurements(e.g., AES-256 bit, as illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B) in a mannerdescribed above so that the content within the cloud-based environmentcan be accessed in a secured way.

First, with reference to FIGS. 3 and 13-14, process 900 is described. Ifuser 316 selects to open a file in the cloud-based environment (e.g.,workspace 302, FIG. 3), a copy of the file is created (e.g., by the hostserver 110) and sent to a mobile application that is operating on amobile device (e.g., device 304-314 such as an Android device, an iOSdevice, etc.). Then, an authentication token that is previously receivedand stored at the mobile device 304 (e.g., via step 1340, FIG. 13) canbe used by the mobile application to encrypt the received copy of thefile. More specifically, a hash function may be performed on theauthentication token so as to create an encryption/decryption key. Insome examples, the hash function may be performed with timestamp. Thecopy of the file can be encrypted using, for example, AES 256-bit orother suitable algorithms along with the result of the hash function.The encrypted file, as well as the result of the hash function as adecryption key, are passed from the mobile application to thethird-party application 120. Thereafter, the third-party application 120can open/edit/otherwise access the file by using the key to decrypt theencrypted copy of the file.

In addition to or as an alternative to process 900, process 905 can beimplemented in the embodiments disclosed herein. With reference to FIGS.3 and 13-14, process 905 is described.

If user 316 selects to open a file in the cloud-based environment (e.g.,workspace 302, FIG. 3), a copy of the file is created by the host server110 and sent to a mobile application. However, instead of using ahashing function with timestamp to create an encryption/decryption key,the mobile application receives a key from the host server 110 upon eachopen instance, and creates an encrypted copy of the file based on thereceived key. Then, the encrypted copy of the file, along with the key,are sent to the third-party application 120. Thereafter, the third-partyapplication 120 can access the file by using the key to decrypt theencrypted copy of the file.

FIG. 17 shows a diagrammatic representation 1700 of a machine in theexample form of a computer system within which a set of instructions,for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, can be executed.

In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone deviceor can be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine can operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in a client-server network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment.

The machine can be a server computer, a client computer, a personalcomputer (PC), a user device, a tablet, a phablet, a laptop computer, aset-top box (STB), a personal digital assistant (PDA), a thin-clientdevice, a cellular telephone, an iPhone, an iPad, a Blackberry, aprocessor, a telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch orbridge, a console, a hand-held console, a (hand-held) gaming device, amusic player, any portable, mobile, hand-held device, or any machinecapable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise)that specify actions to be taken by that machine.

While the machine-readable medium or machine-readable storage medium isshown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term“machine-readable medium” and “machine-readable storage medium” shouldbe taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches andservers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term“machine-readable medium” and “machine-readable storage medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encodingor carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and thatcause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of thepresently disclosed technique and innovation.

In general, the routines executed to implement the embodiments of thedisclosure, can be implemented as part of an operating system or aspecific application, component, program, object, module or sequence ofinstructions referred to as “computer programs.” The computer programstypically comprise one or more instructions set at various times invarious memory and storage devices in a computer, and that, when readand executed by one or more processing units or processors in acomputer, cause the computer to perform operations to execute elementsinvolving the various aspects of the disclosure.

Moreover, while embodiments have been described in the context of fullyfunctioning computers and computer systems, those skilled in the artwill appreciate that the various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that thedisclosure applies equally regardless of the particular type of machineor computer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

Further examples of machine-readable storage media, machine-readablemedia, or computer-readable (storage) media include, but are not limitedto, recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memorydevices, floppy and other removable disks, hard disk drives, opticaldisks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-Only Memory (CD ROMS), Digital VersatileDisks, (DVDs), etc.), among others, and transmission type media such asdigital and analog communication links.

The network interface device enables the machine 2800 to mediate data ina network with an entity that is external to the host server, throughany known and/or convenient communications protocol supported by thehost and the external entity. The network interface device can includeone or more of a network adaptor card, a wireless network interfacecard, a router, an access point, a wireless router, a switch, amultilayer switch, a protocol converter, a gateway, a bridge, bridgerouter, a hub, a digital media receiver, and/or a repeater.

The network interface device can include a firewall which can, in someembodiments, govern and/or manage permission to access/proxy data in acomputer network, and track varying levels of trust between differentmachines and/or applications. The firewall can be any number of moduleshaving any combination of hardware and/or software components able toenforce a predetermined set of access rights between a particular set ofmachines and applications, machines and machines, and/or applicationsand applications, for example, to regulate the flow of traffic andresource sharing between these varying entities. The firewall canadditionally manage and/or have access to an access control list whichdetails permissions including for example, the access and operationrights of an object by an individual, a machine, and/or an application,and the circumstances under which the permission rights stand.

Other network security functions can be performed or included in thefunctions of the firewall, can be, for example, but are not limited to,intrusion-prevention, intrusion detection, next-generation firewall,personal firewall, etc. without deviating from the novel art of thisdisclosure.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” As used herein, the terms “connected,”“coupled,” or any variant thereof, means any connection or coupling,either direct or indirect, between two or more elements; the coupling ofconnection between the elements can be physical, logical, or acombination thereof. Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,”and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall referto this application as a whole and not to any particular portions ofthis application. Where the context permits, words in the above DetailedDescription using the singular or plural number can also include theplural or singular number respectively. The word “or,” in reference to alist of two or more items, covers all of the following interpretationsof the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list,and any combination of the items in the list.

The above detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the teachings to the precise formdisclosed above. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, thedisclosure are described above for illustrative purposes, variousequivalent modifications are possible within the scope of thedisclosure, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. Forexample, while processes or blocks are presented in a given order,alternative embodiments can perform routines having steps, or employsystems having blocks, in a different order, and some processes orblocks can be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/ormodified to provide alternative or subcombinations. Each of theseprocesses or blocks can be implemented in a variety of different ways.Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed inseries, these processes or blocks can instead be performed in parallel,or can be performed at different times. Further, any specific numbersnoted herein are only examples: alternative implementations can employdiffering values or ranges.

The teachings of the disclosure provided herein can be applied to othersystems, not necessarily the system described above. The elements andacts of the various embodiments described above can be combined toprovide further embodiments.

Any patents and applications and other references noted above, includingany that can be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporatedherein by reference. Aspects of the disclosure can be modified, ifnecessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the variousreferences described above to provide yet further embodiments of thedisclosure.

These and other changes can be made to the disclosure in light of theabove Detailed Description. While the above description describescertain embodiments of the disclosure, and describes the best modecontemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, theteachings can be practiced in many ways. Details of the system can varyconsiderably in its implementation details, while still beingencompassed by the subject matter disclosed herein. As noted above,particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspectsof the disclosure should not be taken to imply that the terminology isbeing redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics,features, or aspects of the disclosure with which that terminology isassociated. In general, the terms used in the following claims shouldnot be construed to limit the disclosure to the specific embodimentsdisclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Descriptionsection explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope ofthe disclosure encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but alsoall equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the disclosure underthe claims.

While certain aspects of the disclosure are presented below in certainclaim forms, the inventors contemplate the various aspects of thedisclosure in any number of claim forms. For example, while only oneaspect of the disclosure is recited as a means-plus-function claim under35 U.S.C. §112, ¶6, other aspects can likewise be embodied as ameans-plus-function claim, or in other forms, such as being embodied ina computer-readable medium. (Any claim intended to be treated under 35U.S.C. §112, ¶6 begins with the words “means for”.) Accordingly, theapplicant reserves the right to add additional claims after filing theapplication to pursue such additional claim forms for other aspects ofthe disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for providing a third-party applicationwith direct access to content in a cloud-based environment, the methodcomprising: providing the third-party application with the direct accessto the content in the cloud-based environment; wherein, the third-partyapplication is hosted by an entity different from that of thecloud-based environment.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the directaccess to the content in the cloud-based environment is provided to thethird-party application and accomplished without a need to access anapplication that is native to the cloud-based environment.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein, the direct access to the content includes directsave of the content to or retrieval of the content from the cloud-basedenvironment.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein, the direct access to thecontent includes previewing the content in the cloud-based environment.5. The method of claim 1, wherein, the direct access is provided inresponse to a request to access the content in the cloud-basedenvironment from a user via a web-interface.
 6. The method of claim 5,wherein the request includes a ticket that is to automatically expireafter a period of time.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the request istransmitted from the third-party application.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein, the direct access to the content includes collaborating on thecontent in the cloud-based environment among multiple collaborators ofthe user.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein, the direct access isprovided through a web interface of the third party application.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein, the direct access is provided throughintegration of the third-party application with an application programinterface (API) or web API provided by the cloud-based environment. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein, the application program interface orthe web API is further used for one or more of navigation, filemanagement, file transfer, collaboration in the cloud-based environment.12. The method of claim 10, wherein, the application program interfaceor the web API is further used for caching in the cloud-basedenvironment.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmittingan authentication token to the third-party application after a user'sidentity is verified.
 14. The method of claim 14, wherein the content isencrypted, and wherein the authentication token includes a decryptionkey to decrypt the content.
 15. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: keeping a history of the access, the history including atleast information regarding which third-party application accessed whatcontent.
 16. A method for a third-party application to directly accesscontent in a cloud-based platform, the method comprising: sending, bythe third-party application, a request to access the content in thecloud-based platform; gaining direct access to the content in thecloud-based environment, wherein, the direct access to the content inthe cloud-based environment is provided to the third-party applicationand accomplished without a need to access an application that is nativeto the cloud-based environment.
 17. The method of claim 16, furthercomprising: directly receiving the content from a server which hosts thecloud-based platform.
 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:receiving an authentication token from the server after a user'sidentity is verified; detecting presence of the authentication token;wherein the user's identity is not verified again if the authenticationtoken is present during a subsequent request to access the cloud-basedenvironment.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the content isencrypted, and wherein the authentication token includes a decryptionkey to decrypt the content.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein therequest includes a ticket that is to automatically expire after a periodof time.
 21. The method of claim 16, wherein the third-party applicationcan receive an instruction from the cloud-based environment to deletethe received content.
 22. A system for providing a third-partyapplication to directly access to a file in a cloud-based environment,the system comprising: one or more processors; memory circuitry coupledto the processors and having stored thereon instructions which, whenexecuted by at least one of the processors, cause the system to: providethe third-party application with direct access to the content in thecloud-based environment; wherein, the third-party application is hostedby an entity different from that of the cloud-based environment.
 23. Thesystem of claim 22, wherein, the direct access to the content in thecloud-based environment is provided to the third-party application andaccomplished without a need to access an application that is native tothe cloud-based environment, wherein, the application that is native tothe cloud-based environment is or is not installed on a device used forthe direct access of the content.
 24. The method of claim 22, wherein,the direct access to the content includes direct save of the content toor retrieval of the content from the cloud-based environment.
 25. Thesystem of claim 22, wherein, the direct access to the content includespreviewing the content in the cloud-based environment.
 26. The system ofclaim 22, wherein, the direct access is provided in response to arequest to access the content in the cloud-based environment from a uservia a web-interface, wherein the request includes a ticket that is toautomatically expire after a period of time.
 27. The system of claim 22,wherein, the direct access is provided through integration of thethird-party application with an application program interface (API) orweb API provided by the cloud-based environment.
 28. A machine-readablestorage medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executedby a processor, cause the processor to: send, by the third-partyapplication, a request to access the content in the cloud-basedplatform; gain direct access to the content in the cloud-basedenvironment, wherein, the direct access to the content in thecloud-based environment is provided to the third-party application andaccomplished without a need to access an application that is native tothe cloud-based environment.
 29. The medium of claim 28, wherein theinstructions further cause the processor to: directly receive thecontent from a server which hosts the cloud-based platform; receive anauthentication token from the server after a user's identity isverified; detect presence of the authentication token; wherein theuser's identity is not verified again if the authentication token ispresent during a subsequent request to access the cloud-basedenvironment.
 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the content isencrypted, wherein the authentication token includes a decryption key todecrypt the content, wherein the request includes a ticket that is toautomatically expire after a period of time.